


20,000 Meters of Water and Air

by SiZodiac



Series: 20,000 Meters of Water and Air [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Dubious Consent, Dysfunctional Relationship, Interspecies Romance, M/M, Merman Prince, Moral Ambiguity, Sexual Violence, Tragic Romance, Vague Bestiality, Violence, Winged Warrior
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-18
Updated: 2014-02-18
Packaged: 2018-01-12 21:50:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1201876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiZodiac/pseuds/SiZodiac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>A bird may love a fish, but where would they live?</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	20,000 Meters of Water and Air

Another unfortunate Blue Sea dweller half eaten by sky shark, that was Wyper’s first impression of the merfolk prince.

It was on his daily patrol to the White Sea when he saw the man floating amid broken debris in the aftermath of a shipwreck, holding onto a tiny piece of driftwood with the lower-part of his body submerged in the white waters, seemingly unconscious. Long wavy blue hair flowed over the man’s shoulders, spreading out and drifting upon the ocean tide, initially hiding the outsider’s facial feature from view. His burly form was bare save for a pallid strand of silky ribbon draped over his arms. As Wyper got closer, he could see the tension in those pale muscular forearms and hear the rapid wheeze of breathing distress all visitors from the sea below suffer.

There was a weak flail and small ripples formed on the water surface. Wyper frowned as he observed the midnight-blue dorsal fin of a sky shark practically plastered next to the man, and Wyper at once knew the castaway was a lost cause.

So though the Shandian berserk warrior had relatively calmed down during these two plus years, his reflexive thought was still to put the person out of his misery. But when Wyper aimed his bazooka, he really was not expecting the man to suddenly open his eyes and pin him down with a predatory gold glare. Wyper was not used to be on the receiving end of such a glower, but the warrior’s amusement was cut short when he was splashed a face full of white seawater due to that split-second of hesitation. The tip of a dotted tail fin was the last thing he saw before that peculiar man disappeared underneath the white waves.

Wyper shifted on his skates, balancing on the sway of torrent as he inwardly chastised himself for the carelessness.

 

Fukaboshi’s first impression of the cloud warrior was at gunpoint, and the only reason the eldest prince of Ryuugu Kingdom did not lash out when so threatened was due to his late mother’s teachings of compassion and understanding.

Sought out the island of origin of Joy Boy, it had sounded simple enough on paper, to find if there still existed any hint of the promise that would be his sister’s duty yet to fulfill. In reality it was so much harder, for of the many hundred islands within the Grand Line, it had to be this one that had been deemed gone for the past centuries and upon rediscovery, found could not be easily reach with his merfolk fins. Fukaboshi was as determined however, as he would pluck the stars from heaven if it could secure the safety of his dear younger sister, but now with his troop missing and himself lost within these unknown waters due to that demonic skyward current, the merfolk prince worried that he had made the wrong decision.

The sea was pearly white with low clarity and even lower buoyancy. Fukaboshi had to maintain a persistent flapping of his tail fins, using extra energy just to keep himself naturally afloat. There was not enough oxygen for breathing in the air and not enough soluble oxygen in the water, and for the first time in his life, Fukaboshi understood the pain of suffocation.

He observed the dark-skinned human from under the briny depth, brain hazy and head throbbed as he panted heavily under the waves, gills working with strain. The human had long brown hair falling past his waist tying loosely near the tip, with tribal tattoos on the left side of his face and bare chest, the athletic built of a soldier with a long- ranged heavy weapon in hand and was equipped with float-like gears on his feet. The human was wary and possibly dangerous, Fukaboshi concluded, growing dizzy from slow asphyxiation. What should he do?

Fukaboshi could not fight under these stressful circumstances, and was desperately in need of finding a shallow shore. Otherwise when his strength ultimately waned and he sunk, he would drop through the clouds down to the ocean too far below. Fukaboshi was at a lost of what to do.

The human’s stance shifted, transferring the hand-held mortar onto his back, before he headed in a different direction, skating elegantly across the surface of the cloudy sea. Figuring there was a high chance to be lead ashore, Fukaboshi followed, his peerless merfolk swimming skills easily aiding him in keeping up the speed.

 

Wyper knew he was being followed, but how, he was not sure. His developing Mantra might not be as scrupulous as Aisa’s, but was still currently one of the strongest within these isles, yet if not for the impossibility he would have thought that his pursuer was trailing beneath the white ocean foam. It had been nearing ten minutes and counting. Wyper was begrudgingly impressed with how long the man was holding his breath, doubly so considering it was a Blue Sea dweller so high up in the air.

The speed was remarkable, too, but what of his intentions? Wyper veered a sharp turn, deciding against leading whoever it was to the only milky road that would take them to White-White Sea. Instead, the Shandian warrior and leader of God’s Guard headed for a more isolated region more ideal for a potential fight.

“I know you’re there,” Wyper called out as he came to a quick stop, the long coat tied around his waist fluttered in the gentle wind. The water level calmed as he halted all extra movements, and Wyper could sense the trepidation from beneath the ripples as the other man contemplated the next course of action. What felt like a tense eternity later, the waters moved again, and the blue-haired man from before rose cautiously, a suitable distance away. Wyper could see only the man’s face with his head of aquatic blue mane and a small mark upon his forehead, his golden eyes narrowed in suspicion, but the rest of him was still inundated, hidden under the white frothy waves.

Wyper flexed his bandaged fingers, feeling the familiar weight of an Impact Dial in his right palm. The other man noticed the small movement, and almost growled, sharp fangs could be seen lining the inside of his mouth and his expression was turned into a mistrusting scowl even as he hyperventilated in the thin air.

They hold eye contact for only a moment more; the next second, Wyper had aimed his bazooka and fired a warning cannonball shot. That man was extremely fast however, even when half submerged in water, and he was gone in an instant.

Wyper might have lost sight of the outsider, but he still had his other sense. When the assault came as a surprising blast of highly condensed white water pillar, Wyper was able to somewhat react accordingly and held up his shield. The Shandian warrior had never seen such technique before however that he misjudged its recoiling capability, and though the attack lacked hostility it did not do so in power, and Wyper’s wooden shield was torn out of his hand on impact.

Wyper narrowed his eyes, chomping down on the cigarillo between his teeth. The man was stronger than he originally gave him credit for, and it had been quite a while since he last got a decent fight.

 

Fukaboshi swam around the human male, keeping a safe distance but was aware of an intense gaze that almost effortlessly followed his underwater movement even though the merman was sure the human had lost visual of him some while ago. A practitioner of Observation Haki, Fukaboshi frowned at the notion though not really surprised, but it would make his situation even more difficult. He wished he had not lost his trident.

A change in the water current caught his attention, and Fukaboshi was taken aback to find marine life in this cloudy sea. Maybe, he contemplated, that he still had a chance.

 

Wyper detected an attack coming from behind without looking, and he swirled, ready to kick that conceited bastard out of the air… only to find a sky shark baring its fangs. What in the…? Wyper changed course mid-action, slamming the marine creature on the flat of its head with his skate, cracking skull and knocking it back into the water. Another sky shark leaped at him in place of its companion, and Wyper again skillfully dodged to the side. From the corner of his peripheral vision, he saw the dorsal fins of three more those vicious aquatic marauders slicing through the white ocean surface.

Had he entered shark infested water by accident?

Though for an elite Shandian fighter like Wyper, evading a group of sky shark was not of much problem, it was still rather frustrating. And strange, since for some reason he could feel coordination between the sharks’ attacks and it was extremely odd for these ferocious creatures’ nature. But as Wyper punch another massive shark square in the mouth, smashing teeth and jaws, his clairvoyance sense caught a movement so much faster underwater.

Something else is…?

An artificial tide came at him, splashing high overhead and hindering his sight. Wyper had to kick down two more sharks that were nipping at his ankle before maneuvering around the unbalanced surge. Whoever that guy was, he was smart to make use of the environment, but Wyper would have to contemplate why the man hadn’t been devour by sky sharks later, as another white water pillar was coming his way.

No, Wyper narrowed his eyes and snarled dangerously as he “heard” the other man’s true intention. This water beam was a diversion for a path, an attempt to get close. The Shandian dodged the first easily, but when that other man appeared almost suddenly from the self-made waterway, Wyper was almost caught unaware.

Almost.

But due to his forewarn perception, the dark-skinned cloud warrior managed to lean back just barely. Wyper’s left cheek was still grazed, definitely leaving a bruise for the next day, but a small sacrifice for the split second to clearly see the locks of curly wet hair and the pair of exotic golden eyes.

Wyper struck, lightning fast, his fingers curled twisting into the sinewy pale shoulder. The man hissed in pain, water droplets fell around them and spindrift crashed in slow motion. The Shandian warrior smirked.

The hunter had caught his prey.

 

Fukaboshi was shocked momentarily by the human’s reaction speed, his eyes widened in alarm. Time seemed to stop as the air-breather placed his right palm over his chest.

“ **Impact**!”

The pain came as suddenly. Ribs fractured by the intense blow, all air forced out of his damaged lungs, and Fukaboshi coughed, tasting the copper of blood in his mouth.

Time speeded up. Both of them crashed together into the white foamy sea.

 

Wyper wiped water from his face as he paddled distractedly, utterly drenched with his loose dark hair flowing all over the place. It would be a pain to get back on the skates now that he was mostly submerged, and there were still the sky sharks that were circling, waiting to take any opening. Wyper frowned.

He wasn’t expecting the sudden tug at his ankle that pulled him completely under.

Precious air bubbles left him due to the surprise, but the Shandian warrior managed to hold his breath despite the unanticipated move. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the stinging sensation in his eyes and get use to the blurry underwater visual. Those fierce sky fish were not giving a moment to recoup though, and was already champing down on the White-White Sea dweller. But Wyper was far from defenseless even under this dire circumstance, and he kicked the nearest sky shark on its belly as he attempted to propel himself to the surface.

A lighter shade of blue shot passed him, pushing him back downward and away from the much needed air. Wyper was astonished to find the other man still apparently alive, and seemingly to be so much faster than before. The viscosity of the white water was hampering the Shandian warrior’s movement and his burn bazooka was weighing him down. Something sharp nicked his arm when Wyper was just a bit too slow to dodge, drawing blood, his mind was growing progressively hazy due to oxygen deprivation and he was loosing track of up-down direction.

Something moved and Wyper struck out, clouting a sky shark on the back. It had been how long? Five minutes? Ten? He tried to swim upward still, but knew it was futile without first immobilizing the other man who kept thwarting his attempt.

Fingers again pulled at his calf and immediately Wyper reacted, twisting his right leg and hooking his knee over the other man’s elbow to incapacitate his arm. His left foot came down hard on the guy’s broad back. He was promptly trying to struggle out of the forceful hold, but Wyper crushed that effort as he seized the other arm and bent it backwards with his left hand, using every instinct he had due to the lack of proper vision. The guy was thoroughly subdued in this state even as he wriggled weakly, but immediately ceased all movement when he felt the cold of metal pressed against his exposed back.

They both knew from such a close range, the bazooka would take life. And the dark-skinned warrior’s index finger was closed and steady over the trigger.

That instant stretched on infinitely.

The Shandian could sense fear and so many other emotions off the other man, before very slowly, Wyper lowered his hand. He really had gone soft during the recent years, though had not completely relaxed his guard, as he chucked the heavy weapon away and kicked the frustrating bastard on the backside as a makeshift ramp to thrust to the water surface.

His lungs were screaming and his blurry vision was darkening.

He had already won, now, he needed air.

 

Wyper woke with his head tilted back, large hands over his nose and on his chest, and a fanged mouth covering his. He pushed whoever it was rather violently even before fully resuscitated, and turned to the side, coughing water before gulping in the desired air. Sea cloud lapped at has calves as he had been laid awkwardly on a shallow island cloud shore, and Wyper gazed up at an unfamiliar portion of gradually dimming sky. The night was close and it would get treacherous to make way back to Upper Yard in the dark, Wyper thought distractedly. His chest heaved and ached.

“You are awake,” a temperate voice sounded from the side, which Wyper pointedly ignored as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. He sensed no ill-well from that man now, but the Shandian warrior was not about to thank a savior who had attempted to drown him mere moments prior. He dug out a soggy piece of tobacco from his coat pocket before sticking it into his mouth, but his bid to light it with an equally soaked match proved to be futile after the third try. All the while, Wyper could feel a piercing gaze boring into the back of his skull.

“What do you want?” Wyper finally snapped, still prone to occasionally loose temper. He threw the guy an ugly glare, unimpressed with the overall larger man and that girly strand of ribbon that seemed to defy gravity. Inwardly, Wyper felt a sick satisfaction when he saw the other male now sported a noticeable bruise over his chest where he had been hit by the Impact Dial, and was carefully holding his ribcage wincing as he backed a minute more into the calming waves until only his upper body was visible.

“I believe we got off on the wrong foot, uh, figuratively that is,” the blue-haired man politely said, his unusually colored eyes shifted to the side once but quickly pulled his gaze back. Wyper’s frown deepened, but he did not reply.

The silence seemed to make the outsider uncomfortable. “I… retrieved your weapon,” he continued as there was a visible change on the water surface beside his body, and the previously lost bazooka came to view and was presented before the dark-skinned warrior.

Wyper knew that the man was hesitant to return his weapon for fear of retaliation, but this simple gesture of trust reassured him more than any words would ever do. Thus Wyper nodded, taking the leather strap of the metallic burn bazooka from the spotted tip of a deep blue tail fin.

Wait.

Tail fin…?

Wyper blinked, his mouth slightly dropping open when now, without the distraction of battle, he could undoubtedly make out the streamline of a shark’s angled tail and fins flapping lazily in the water smoothly transitioning into that man’s humanoid waist and upper body. “… what the hell?” Wyper was never one for delicacies, and so he stared quite blatantly, noticing the lines on the shoulders that he had previously mistaken as gashes were in fact gills.

Well, that solves the question of how he survived that long underwater, Wyper thought. Subconsciously he moved closer, kicking up splatters of water as he did so and leaned over to touch the smooth prickly scaled sharkskin. He wondered if that was an oddly built diving gear or was actually real.

 

The human did not realize what he was doing was rather uncouth, and Fukaboshi did not realize his personal bubble was being violated either as he was too distracted by the pair of feathery wings on the human male’s back. He knew he shouldn’t stare, but once he noticed them, the merman just could not help it. Fukaboshi had seen a lot of eccentric-looking people during his time since countless pirates pass through Fishman Island on their way to the New World, but winged human was still a first. Could the human fly with it? The merfolk prince wondered, thoroughly perplexed. His fingers twitched because Fukaboshi was actually quite curious as to what they would feel like at touch, and probably would’ve done so if not for his deferential upbringing. Those angel-like wings looked endearing, fluffy and white, a peculiar contrast on such an unyielding dark-skinned brunet male.

That was when Fukaboshi feel a hand running down his waist. He almost jumped, and when he looked up, Fukaboshi saw that the tiny space between the two of them was extremely unbecoming for men of their age and doubly so for practical strangers. The merman backed a bit, but the human seemed to not notice still of their compromising position and leaned over further, not caring that he was getting the corners of his long uniform coat wet again.

“This is real?” the human asked roughly as he ran his hand down the merman’s shark-like lower part and picked up the oblique caudal fin, straightforward in both word and action. Fukaboshi flushed, flapping his tail weakly under the fixated scrutinize.

“Y-yes,” he said restlessly, privately debated if it would be too rude to ask the winged human to back off and stop touching him so inappropriately. Luckily, Fukaboshi was relieved of his dilemma mere moments later as his tail end was dropped offhandedly back into the shallow water. The human sat back, running fingers through long brown hair before he rubbed at his face and chin, deep in thought.

“You have never seen a merfolk before?” Fukaboshi guessed.

“A merfolk?” the human repeated slowly, as if tasting a foreign word in his mouth. He shook his head. Fukaboshi nodded, holding out a hand in greeting. “I am Fukaboshi, a shark merman from Fishman Island.”

The xenophobic brunet warrior took a little longer to respond, but eventually he took the hand in a firm shake. “I’m Wyper, of Upper Yard and Shandora.”

 

 

 

 


End file.
